Is Microsoft really that bad for always online and all in one with the xbox one? In my opinion, no, but seeing people react to it so negatively compelled me to talk about the subject. People say that focusing on aspects like social media (facebook,twitter,TV) will detract the xbox one from games; their argument is a gaming console should be solely a gaming console, but why? When people see the future, they see everything as being connected to one another in a seamless, integrated world. For the most part, we are always online already; we are constantly on our cell phones and computers, two devices which most people would consider worthless without the internet. Although Microsoft tried to force the future by required the console to be always online, I think their intent was justified. They are pushing for their devices to be connected to one another and not separate entities; windows 8 has connected computer, smart glass, and phone together so their is no limit to one particular device. They are not some evil entity that wants to screw over the common man, but rather a force that has a vision of what the future should be; given they're a business, so of course they also want to maximize profit, but I still don't think they were wrong with the xbox one.

Cloud computing is a beautiful thing despite what most people think and I think eventually the xbox one will greatly benefit from it; the skydrive is amazing if you haven't used it already and much easier to use than apple's i-cloud as it seamlessly connects to microsoft office and is great for saving files; the cloud service would virtually eliminate load times for games and allow the graphics to be pushed along with resolving the need for updates as everything could be updated in the cloud while the console was off. People got upset because you can't sell back your games, yet most people sell games back to gamestop for a few bucks when they should get at least 40 or 50. You can't sell back your games on steam yet people don't complain because of the deals steam offers; Microsoft was going to allow the developer to set their own price, which might have made for some good deals. Anyways, let me know what you think: was microsoft right to try and force always online (or at least, check in to the internet connection once a day) and focus on social media or should they have just focused on making a gaming console like Sony did with the PS4. Tell me which console you're getting and why, I'm curious to know.

Alright, let's talk about terraria. As many of you are well aware, the 1.2 update came out two weeks ago and I have to say, it's great. Terraria itself was a great game, but it wasn't without it's flaws. Terraria 1.2 addresses many of the issues I had with the original and makes the game better than before. If you haven't played Terraria yet or don't want me to spoil the update, I suggest you leave now, for everyone else, enjoy.

First, let's talk about the biome improvements. For starters, the addition of the snow biome and the crimson. Not too much to say about them except that add new mobs, new items, and a new boss. Terraria is a game focused on exploration and combat, so new biomes are just what we needed to change up the game. And let's not forget the addition of the highlands, which adds the tree of life to your world (aka the giant tree that you can go inside). As for the existing biomes, the jungle underground has completely been overhauled and now features honeycombs along with a jungle temple. The desert now holds a pyramid with a treasure room where you can find a flying carpet. The floating islands have been updated with new buildings and are now clouds. And last but not least, the dungeon has been redone and now features biome exclusive chests with amazing items inside. Probably the biggest improvement to the game in fact, is the shear amount of new items that were added with the update.

One aspect of the original terraria that was sorely lacking was magic. There were two spells you could learn and the magical harp; the other magical items were less interesting with the exception to the laser gun and fire flower. With the update there are new spells and magical items at your disposal among the likes of magical tridents and magical staffs. There's also new magical armor which I have yet to get but will hopefully get soon. In fact, there's a lot of new armor which you can craft from pretty much anything i.e. wood. Also, remember how it was annoying that you only got either angle wings or demon wings? Well now you can get batwings, ghost wings, and even a jetpack to name a few. The other weapons and items are just as good, I just wanted to address the magic items since they were lacking compared to melee and ranged before the update. In addition to the new items and updated biomes, there are a few minor tweaks that make the update great.

There is now dynamic whether that changes randomly as you play. The bosses now spawn without being summoned, which makes the game that more intense; don't worry, they're a bit easier with the new items but not overly challenging like they were before; I don't know if they were balanced in the update, but they're now a lot more fun to fight. Enemies now have a chance of dropping boss summoning items, so you don't have to waste precious resources crafting those items. There are new ores. Probably the best new addition are the solar eclipses, which happen during the day; they're like blood moons, only harder.

Now think of another game that is similar to terraria but not as realized. Minecraft? Yes minecraft. Don't get me wrong, minecraft isn't a bad game, it just is overly hyped for what it is. Minecraft, whether you're an enthusiast or just looking to pass the time, gets boring after awhile, especially on single player. There's nothing there to keep you entertained in terms of gameplay; no mini-bosses, no really cool items, nothing other than building. Modding in minecraft is a whole different story and the mods make minecraft amazing, even better than terraria. Tekkit adds all the features that terraria offers in the world of minecraft so why can't the base game be like that? Yes, I get that minecraft is supposed to be about simplicity, but that doesn't mean it can't have more interesting features. Also, since the last few updates installing mods on minecraft has become overly complicated and confusing, not simpler; I get the feeling the developers want people playing vanilla minecraft more than the modded version. Also, the updates they do release have already been done by modders and it feels like mojang is "stealing" what the modders have mad since the modders don't own the rights to anything they make.

What do you think; am I out of place saying terraria is better than minecraft? Let me know your opinion in the comments below.

Today feels like a blogging day. I know I don't post very often, but I'll try to post more in the future. I plan on just talking about the games I play and some interesting thoughts that I've had about them. Today I'm going to be talking about animal crossing, so if you don't want anything spoiled from a game without spoilers, you should leave now. For everyone else, enjoy.

The other day I was thinking about how some people are like, "Animal crossing is for children and nobody should play it because it involves talking animals". When I thought about it more, I thought of a few points to prove why animal crossing was made for adults. I have a few key points that I want to make:

1. The basic premise of animal crossing is you move to a new town and are put in a ridiculous amount of debt from the very start.

Everybody who's played animal crossing knows of tom nook, the man who runs you financially into the ground. 10K seems reasonable for your first house and can easily be gotten in your first day of playing, but then you realize your house is too small and want to expand. Then it jumps up to 100k, 300k, etc. Pretty soon you're in over your head and as soon as you pay down your debt after months, Tom Nook is there to recommend you expand. A child doesn't understand the severity of going into debt and can enjoy the game simply because at a base level it's easy to understand. Older players however, we curse at Tom Nook and watch as every last bell goes towards paying off their debt.

2. As mayor, you get to arrange your town the way you want to and although children can enjoy just placing public works projects anywhere, they were meant to be planned out and placed in the best possible way.

A few weeks ago I entered the dream suite and visited a town that was obviously made by a child. The child had thrown whatever he thought was going in front of the train station, wanting to show off. A light house was in the center of town, out of place, and his town designs were little more than organized scribbles. One week later I visited a town that had paved roads, A light house on the coast, and flowers strategically placed to give a sense of awe as you walked in. Planning out your town is no easy task and although a child can do it, making it perfect requires foresight; something children have never been great at.

Thanks for reading. For my next post I might talk about why terraria is better than minecraft since I've been playing terraria a lot. I'll try to make the post more fleshed out than this one, but for all I know it could be another short post. Let me know what you think since I'm relatively new to blogging.

This is a hot button topic that has been on my mind a lot recently: is EA destroying the gaming industry? My answer is a sound yes and I have personally boycotted any game produced by EA. Given that EA has now been voted worst company in America two years in a row now, it would make sense that people will stop buying their games just as I have. Yet, millions of people bought Sim City despite it being a broken service (not a product) and even more people bought Dead Space 3. And worse of all, people are paying money on micro transactions that literally have no point in existing. Don't get me wrong, micro transactions can be awesome as long as they are cheap and give you a permanent item in the game. What's the point of paying money for something that is expendable in game; your hard earned money has value and so should your in game items; whether it's purely aesthetic or has functionality to it. An example of micro transactions done right is the weapons packs in Call of Duty: BLOPS 2. They cost two dollars and give you a cameo for your guns, 3 reticles, and a calling card. An example of micro transactions done poorly or simply for the purpose of making a profit are the micro transactions in Battlefield 3. They allow people to pay to have everything in the game unlocked and completely ruin the point of the game. Why buy a game and then pay to unlock everything you're supposed to work towards to unlock? Enough with micro transactions and back to EA destroying the gaming industry.

I've started to see a pattern emerge with EA; they'll buy a successful franchise, keep it decent through the second game and then with the last game ruin it by taking away what made the game so great in the first place and trying to make the game appeal to as many people as possible. We saw this with mass effect 3 with the 3 different play styles you could choose from in the beginning; action, role-playing and normal; mass effect has always been a story driven game. We saw this with Dead Space 3 where EA took a survival-horror game and turned it into a shooter with horror elements in it. We saw this with medal of honor: war fighter, where EA tried to turn it into the next call of duty, but pulled the curtain after it flopped. And now we are going to see this with Battlefield 4. Battlefield has been known for taking it's time to make great multiplayer games and usually releases a new entry every 5 to 6 years. Battlefield 3 was released in 2011 and now just 2 years later a new battlefield is being released? It's not bad company 3 or a spin-off, but an actual full scale installment in the battlefield franchise. What's also alarming is they seem to be focusing a great deal on the single player which has always been forgettable in battlefield; this takes resources away from the multiplayer and combine that with less development time, it's a set up for disaster.

It would be criminal for me not to mention sim city in this post, as this is a game that people like myself have eagerly been awaiting for 10 years. EA forced always online DRM for Sim City and as a consequence, Sim City is still broken a month after its release. The irony of this is EA opted for always online to stop piracy and therefore increase their profit; it had the opposite effect. Also, despite EA claiming that always online is a necessary component for the game and even going as far as calling it an MMO, hackers have been able to make Sim City single player. Also throw in the tiny map sizes and broken A.I. to name a few of the problems, Sim City is a broken game. The fact that EA wasn't even going to offer gamers a refund is ridiculous; it just goes to show how EA has thrown business ethics out the window in favor of a profit. The saddest thing is that despite all this, people still continue to buy "products" from EA although people are now just starting to realize what EA is doing to them. In closing, I ask you to do this; boycott EA and let them know that they can't get away with treating their consumers like crap; we are the market and as such we control them, not the other way around. EA doesn't deserve a second chance and deserves to be brought to its knees by us; I won't rest until EA is wiped from the face of the Earth and I hope you share my conviction. Thank you for reading.

Alright, I said I was going to blog and blog I shall. I don't have much time to write this, as I have to get to class, but I would like to take a moment to talk walking dead while it's still relevant. I'm not talking about the T.V. show although I do watch it, nor am I talking about the comics, which I still haven't gotten around to reading; I'm talking about the game. There will be spoilers in this, so keep in mind; if you haven't played, do not read on. In my opinion, the walking dead was the best game I played in 2012. I would compare it to mass effect 3, but due to the ending, I lost all my respect for that game, no matter how great it was. With that out of the way, I have to say I haven't cried from a game's ending since red dead. The ending of the walking dead was fantastic and felt right, which I attribute to the brilliant writing and voice acting throughout the game; you were Lee Everett from beginning to end, and no amount of hardship could ever change that. By the end you knew you were going to die yet a part of you thought you might survive; that's why you cut off your arm, found clementine and did your best not to get bitten a second time. It is why, even at the very end, you pressed the a button as fast as you could to get up from the wall, only to finally realize that this was it. The goodbye at the end was excruciating to go through; telling Clementine to be brave, and if you were me, telling her shooting people is bad and you shouldn't do it unless you absolutely have to, to telling her to avoid big cities or keep on the move and finally having her leave you. No other game has had me care so much about the characters as the walking dead and if I had to choose between Rick or Lee, I would choose Lee every time. With that in mind, I'm looking forward to season 2 and only wish Lee could be there with Clementine. R.I.P. Lee, R.I.P.